Avni Rustemi

Avni Rrustemi
Avni Rrustemi in the 1920s
Born	22 September 1895 Libohovë, Gjirokastër, Janina Vilayet, Ottoman Empire
Died	April 22, 1924(1924-04-22) (aged 28) Tirana, Albania
Occupation	Member of Parliament
Nationality	Albanian

Avni Rrustemi (born 22 September 1895 – 22 April 1924) was an Albanian teacher, activist and member of the Albanian parliament. Rrustemi was the leader of the democratic organisation "Bashkimi", and member of the democratic opposition in the Albanian National Assembly preceding the Revolution of June 1924.

Rrustemi was born in Libohovë, in a family of landowners. He attended secondary school in Janina (Ioannina) and Istanbul. In 1908, only 13 years old, he abandoned school to join the guerrilla group of Çerçiz Topulli and in 1910 he attempted the assassination of the Ottoman army general of expedition, Turgut Pasha in Shkodër. In 1912-13, he studied at a teacher training college in Geneva and returned to Albania in 1914 where he served as a volunteer fighter against Greek forces in southern Albania during the Occupation of Albania (1912–1913). In 1915 he studied at a Jewish school in Ioannina run by the Alliance Israélite Universelle. In 1917 he returned to Albania and taught school in Tepelenë and Vlorë, but seems to have been in eternal conflict with his superiors. In early 1919, Rrustemi began further studies at the Arberesh College of Saint Adrian in San Demetrio Corone in Calabria. In the spring of 1919 in San Demetrio Corone, he formed the League of the Albanian Youth (Albanian: Lidhja e Rinisë Shqiptare) for the defence of the Albanians Nation. After a stay in Rome, he returned to Vlorë in the spring of 1920 and to the political chaos reigning in Albania. It was here, after contact with certain individuals who were no doubt supporters of those in power, that he was encouraged to assassinate Essad Pasha Toptani, who was scheming to overthrow the new and unstable government. Essad Pasha was regarded as a traitor for having murdered Hasan Riza Pasha, commander of Shkodër, in April 1913, and for turning the fortress of Shkodër over to Montenegro.